Year A
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 46
Romans 3:19-28
John 8:31-36<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth O God\u2026 speak your truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today’s passage from Jeremiah is one of my favorites\u2026 it talks about how God will make a new covenant with the House of Israel\u2026 the former one… made with their ancestors\u2026 those whom God brought out of Egypt\u2026 had been broken\u2026 and part of why it had been broken was because it was not fully a part of them\u2026 they did not own it\u2026 it was coming from the outside in\u2026 and that can be hard to do\u2026 in this new covenant God would put God’s law within them\u2026 would write it on their hearts\u2026 would make it course through their bodies like their own breath and their own blood\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They say the eyes are the doorway to the soul\u2026 but in the ancient world\u2026 the heart was its seat\u2026 it was the place where the soul and the body connected\u2026 and although a soul is not a material object\u2026 it is still capable of being formed by the revealed word of God\u2026 by our experiences… and by the Holy Spirit\u2026 so God’s law being within us\u2026 being written on our hearts\u2026 so to say\u2026 is like Holy DNA that forms our souls\u2026 it comes from being connected with our Creator and Source\u2026 and while our human DNA may determine things like hair and eye color\u2026 this Holy DNA informs the guidelines which determine our relationships with each other\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Book of Ezekiel describes something that’s steeped in relationship… and which informed what Martin Luther did in 1517\u2026 in the ancient world\u2026 each city had its own city-god\u2026 and Yahweh was considered the city-god of Jerusalem\u2026 and when cities fought\u2026 their gods also fought\u2026 so the city which won\u2026 . had the god which won\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2 Chronicles 7:15\u2026 God said about the Temple that Solomon had just built\u2026 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house so that my name may be there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But then Ezekiel described something astounding that happened during the Babylonian Captivity\u2026 in Ezekiel there’s a passage that begins with God in the Holy of Holies\u2026 and the cherubim move from their resting place to receive the LORD\u2026 God passes over the threshold and leaves the Holy of Holies… and is carried by the cherubim to Babylon\u2026 and in that moment YHWH was transformed from a locally based and geographically limited city-god\u2026 to a God of the people… who so wanted to be in relationship with them… that the rigidity of “place” expressed in 2 Chronicles… could lovingly yield to share the exiles’ fate in Babylon\u2026 and by choosing mobility\u2026 YHWH established omnipresence… and could then simultaneously be with those who the Babylonians did not take\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I was growing up, some of our friends across the street were Roman Catholic\u2026 and I had this vague awareness about people going to confession\u2026 but also of the priest being the only doorway through which they could gain access to God\u2026 but even as a young Jew\u2026 I knew this was not our understanding\u2026 that the Rabbi held no similar power to limit our access to God…<\/p>\n\n\n\n And I think that in the same way that YHWH left the Holy of Holies to become omnipresent\u2026 to be with God’s people in exile\u2026 Martin Luther realized that the Roman church couldn’t… and shouldn’t… try to hold God captive either\u2026 locked behind cathedral doors to which they held the keys\u2026 and dole God out\u2026 or open the Godspigot and let more of God out for those who paid indulgences or shut it down for those whose who did not\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Martin Luther realized the inherent abuse of power which humans could invoke\u2026 but he also realized that God was a God of all the people who spilled out beyond church doors\u2026 and that the Holy Spirit spilled out beyond papal authority\u2026 and was omnipresent in the ways that Ezekiel understood\u2026 and that the Holy Spirit could help and guide us…<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Pentecost\u2026 the day we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit\u2026 the color of the day is red\u2026 when someone is ordained as a pastor or priest and makes voews to be led by the Holy Spirit\u2026 the color of the day is\u2026 yes\u2026 red\u2026 and we wear red today because we believe that the reforms started in 1517\u2026 and which continue to this day\u2026 were led by the Holy Spirit too\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luther believed that at its core\u2026 the Bible is a story about a God who stubbornly refuses to give up on us\u2026 and that we are saved not because of anything we do or are\u2026 but because of who God is\u2026 ] we won’t ever get everything right\u2026 we are simultaneously saint and sinner\u2026 but because we are made in the image of God\u2026 we have worth and dignity… and we slosh through grace in the waters of baptism…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luther took God’s work out of places like the monastery and gave it to those in their daily life\u2026 so that it’s our hands which do God’s work\u2026 he translated the Bible into the spoken language so that everyone could read it\u2026 and he wrote the Large and the Small Catechism so parents could teach their children at home\u2026 and that’s why we’re all in red today… why the color of the Spirit isn’t limited to my stole and the altar hangings\u2026 you’re wearing red… because tradition affirms that the Holy Spirit lives in and among all of us\u2026 and that’s why we belong to the priesthood of all believers\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Holy Spirit is often described in other ways, too\u2026 the Holy Spirit is explained as the wind… or a dove… or fire\u2026 and in 3:8\u2026 John wrote that no one can predict where the wind will blow\u2026 or how a dove will fly\u2026 or where fire will spread\u2026 and it can be difficult to predict which way the Spirit will urge us\u2026 but we invite the Spirit into our lives and our formation\u2026 through studying scriptures\u2026 prayer\u2026 and conversation\u2026 ] in Reformation\u2026 we are always being made new\u2026 we are always letting go of that which no longer serves God well\u2026 and taking hold of that which does\u2026 letting go and holding on\u2026 letting go and holding on\u2026 and over time\u2026 we increasingly experience\u2026 that all of those things which serve God well\u2026 also serve us well\u2026 but even when we get it wrong\u2026 even when we get frustrated\u2026 the Holy Spirit is right there with and in us\u2026 waiting for us to get out of our own way… ] and God’s law is being written on our hearts\u2026 so that God’s gracious invitation to the sinner in us… and God’s loving embrace for the saint in us\u2026 burn like a beacon to guide us on our Way\u2026 and the Called to Common Mission Concordat which enables me as an Episcopal priest\u2026 to serve a Lutheran congregation\u2026 is one of the ways that God is expanding our welcome\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think that different Christian denominations can teach and learn from each other\u2026 the retreat I attended this week started out years ago\u2026 only for Lutherans\u2026 Anglicans\u2026 and Roman Catholics\u2026 and was called LARC\u2026 two years ago\u2026 the Planning Committee decided to enlarge the circle\u2026 and changed the name to the Ecumenical Community of Michigan\u2026 and this week we talked about how healthy relationships in ecumenical and political conversation depend on understanding and openness\u2026 and there were Presbyterian\u2026 Mennonite\u2026 and United Methodist Christians who participated\u2026 in addition to the original three\u2026 ] and because Roman Catholic communion at the retreat has always been a two-way sticking point\u2026 we decided to forgo communion entirely\u2026 and celebrate a Moravian Love Feast to which all were invited\u2026 as all are invited to this Table\u2026 as all are invited by an omnipresent God\u2026 who experiences no divisions\u2026 and desires the same for all of us\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year A Jeremiah 31:31-34 Psalm 46 Romans 3:19-28 John 8:31-36 May the words of my mouth O God\u2026 speak your truth\u2026 Today’s passage from Jeremiah is one of my favorites\u2026 it talks about how God will make a new covenant with the House of Israel\u2026 the former one… made with their ancestors\u2026 those whom God brought out of Egypt\u2026 had been broken\u2026 and part of why it had been broken was because it was not fully a part of them\u2026 they did not own it\u2026 it was coming from the outside in\u2026 and that can be hard to do\u2026 in this new covenant God would put God’s law within them\u2026 would write it on their hearts\u2026 would make it course through their bodies like their own breath and their own blood\u2026 They say the eyes are the doorway to the soul\u2026 but in the ancient world\u2026 the heart was its seat\u2026 it was the place where the soul and the body connected\u2026 and although a soul is not a material object\u2026 it is still capable of being formed by the revealed word of God\u2026 by our experiences… and by the Holy Spirit\u2026 so God’s law being within us\u2026 being written on our hearts\u2026 so to say\u2026 is like Holy DNA that forms our souls\u2026 it comes from being connected with our Creator and Source\u2026 and while our human DNA may determine things like hair and eye color\u2026 this Holy DNA informs the guidelines which determine our relationships with each other\u2026 The Book of Ezekiel describes something that’s steeped in relationship… and which informed what Martin Luther did in 1517\u2026 in the ancient world\u2026 each city had its own city-god\u2026 and Yahweh was considered the city-god of Jerusalem\u2026 and when cities fought\u2026 their gods also fought\u2026 so the city which won\u2026 . had the god which won\u2026 In 2 Chronicles 7:15\u2026 God said about the Temple that Solomon had just built\u2026 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house so that my name may be there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time\u2026 But then Ezekiel described something astounding that happened during the Babylonian Captivity\u2026 in Ezekiel there’s a passage that begins with God in the Holy of Holies\u2026 and the cherubim move from their resting place to receive the LORD\u2026 God passes over the threshold and leaves the Holy of Holies… and is carried by the cherubim to Babylon\u2026 and in that moment YHWH was transformed from a locally based and geographically limited city-god\u2026 to a God of the people… who so wanted to be in relationship with them… that the rigidity of “place” expressed in 2 Chronicles… could lovingly yield to share the exiles’ fate in Babylon\u2026 and by choosing mobility\u2026 YHWH established omnipresence… and could then simultaneously be with those who the Babylonians did not take\u2026 When I was growing up, some of our friends across the street were Roman Catholic\u2026 and I had this vague awareness about people going to confession\u2026 but also of the priest being the only doorway through which they could gain access to God\u2026 but even as a young Jew\u2026 I knew this was not our understanding\u2026 that the Rabbi held no similar power to limit our access to God… And I think that in the same way that YHWH left the Holy of Holies to become omnipresent\u2026 to be with God’s people in exile\u2026 Martin Luther realized that the Roman church couldn’t… and shouldn’t… try to hold God captive either\u2026 locked behind cathedral doors to which they held the keys\u2026 and dole God out\u2026 or open the Godspigot and let more of God out for those who paid indulgences or shut it down for those whose who did not\u2026 Martin Luther realized the inherent abuse of power which humans could invoke\u2026 but he also realized that God was a God of all the people who spilled out beyond church doors\u2026 and that the Holy Spirit spilled out beyond papal authority\u2026 and was omnipresent in the ways that Ezekiel understood\u2026 and that the Holy Spirit could help and guide us… On Pentecost\u2026 the day we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit\u2026 the color of the day is red\u2026 when someone is ordained as a pastor or priest and makes voews to be led by the Holy Spirit\u2026 the color of the day is\u2026 yes\u2026 red\u2026 and we wear red today because we believe that the reforms started in 1517\u2026 and which continue to this day\u2026 were led by the Holy Spirit too\u2026 Luther believed that at its core\u2026 the Bible is a story about a God who stubbornly refuses to give up on us\u2026 and that we are saved not because of anything we do or are\u2026 but because of who God is\u2026 ] we won’t ever get everything right\u2026 we are simultaneously saint and sinner\u2026 but because we are made in the image of God\u2026 we have worth and dignity… and we slosh through grace in the waters of baptism… Luther took God’s work out of places like the monastery and gave it to those in their daily life\u2026 so that it’s our hands which do God’s work\u2026 he translated the Bible into the spoken language so that everyone could read it\u2026 and he wrote the Large and the Small Catechism so parents could teach their children at home\u2026 and that’s why we’re all in red today… why the color of the Spirit isn’t limited to my stole and the altar hangings\u2026 you’re wearing red… because tradition affirms that the Holy Spirit lives in and among all of us\u2026 and that’s why we belong to the priesthood of all believers\u2026 The Holy Spirit is often described in other ways, too\u2026 the Holy Spirit is explained as the wind… or a dove… or fire\u2026 and in 3:8\u2026 John wrote that no one can predict where the wind will blow\u2026 or how a dove will fly\u2026 or where fire will spread\u2026 and it can be difficult to predict which way the 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